Danny's Workshops

I was thrilled The Times wrote about this important topic. To me, the mind-body connection is one of the most important parts of healthy running and walking, but it is overlooked and often under utilized.

I'm not Catholic, but for almost 20 years now I've celebrated the forty days and forty nights of Lent. It's a time of year when some Christians give up something for forty days to represent the forty days before the Crucifixion when Jesus went into the desert and fought off the temptations of the Devil.

When I was growing up I used to really feel for the kids that had to give up something they liked to do, or liked to eat or whatever they were most attached to. I mean, geez… six weeks is a long time to go without. But, since I've adopted this practice as an adult, I have not only seen it's value, I actually look forward to it every year.

It’s like magic. One second you feel exhausted, as if every ounce of energy and life is drained from your body. Then, from out of no where comes a surge of energy; alive, new, and potent like a rising sun. You have much more energy in your body than you think. At your fingertips are sources of energy that are untapped, underutilized, or not fully activated. Here are a few ways to access that energy while you’re running, walking, and living your life:

I've been thinking a lot about performance lately and I've come to believe that, as a culture, we've drifted away from its original meaning. I hear the media mostly associating the word associated with the image of elite runners, high-level athletes, and people being noticed for exceptional effort. The word faster is always in there as well. Performance has morphed into a word that implies some amount of comparison. It's no wonder we all end up with varying degrees of "performance anxiety." What I'd like to offer is a more friendly definition so that performance doesn't bring up thoughts, feelings or fears of comparison.

We all sit too much. We sit all day at work, at the movies, at meals, driving the car… there is never a shortage of opportunities to sit. As a result, we're becoming increasingly unfit because of this sedentary aspect of our lifestyle.

The fastest growing demographic in running today is the half marathon. It offers all the challenges of pacing, fueling and strategy without feeling daunting, like the marathon sometimes can. RunningUSA reported last year that since the year 2000 attendance at half marathons in this country has gone up 307%! In 2013 there were 1.9 million half marathon finishers and a whopping 61% were women..... For those of you who are thinking of running a half marathon this year, whether it's your first or your tenth, here are some tips to help you get there in the best shape ever.